Delhi Assembly passes censure motion against oppn over women's quota bill; it's time to fight, says CM

The Delhi Assembly on Tuesday passed a censure motion against the opposition parties over the defeat of a bill seeking to amend the women's reservation law in the Lok Sabha recently, with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta calling it ''a black chapter'' of Indian democracy. ''No more pleading, it's time to fight,'' Gupta said while speaking during the special session of Assembly. The chief minister, who moved the motion in the Assembly, slammed the opposition for pursuing ''narrow political gains'' and ''conspiring'' to defeat the bill. The censure motion was passed with a voice vote in the House. The Aam Aadmi Party walked out during the discussion, alleging that they were not allowed to speak freely. Speaker Vijender Gupta claimed that every opposition member was given time, and said they ''created drama'' of walking out to avoid listening to the ruling members. In a mark of solidarity with women, the speaker invited BJP MLA Shikha Roy to conduct the House proceedings for some time. On April 18, the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lok Sabha. While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority. In a scathing attack on the opposition parties, Chief Minister Gupta said that their leaders stooped low while opposing the Bill and started talking nonsense. She also slammed women opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, accusing them of adopting an anti-women stand. ''Priyanka Gandhi gave the 'Ladki Hun Lad Sakti Hun' slogan, and herself ran away when the women were fighting for their rights,'' she said. Gupta said the women were looking up to Parliament, hoping to end their wait of 78 years, but the opposition was bent on defeating the Bill. ''It was a sad day and a black chapter of our democracy,'' she stated. The Centre brought amendments to the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' to ensure enhanced representation of women in the state legislatures and the Parliament by 2029, but the Bill was defeated. In the past 27 years, the bill for increased representation of women was tabled in the Parliament seven times and the opposition parties always defeated it, she claimed. The chief minister said the time has come for women to stand up for their rights. ''No more appeals, this will now be a battle, a decisive struggle,'' she said, adding that women have long witnessed tokenism and political manoeuvring without real justice. Gupta also said that the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Atishi, did not speak on the issue and claimed there must be some ''conspiracy'' behind it, sympathising with her for surviving in AAP with difficulty. Earlier in the day, the chief minister led a protest by the ruling BJP MLAs in the Assembly premises over the defeat of the Bill. The BJP MLAs and ministers wore black armbands in the House, expressing their protest against the defeat of the Bill. Both the BJP and AAP MLAs traded charges during the discussion. BJP MLA from Greater Kailash, Shikha Roy, said that the Bill was an opportunity to restore the balance of representation in the legislatures in favour of women and not just any favour. The Bill was most justified as it maintained balance without reducing the number of seats for men, and raised the number of seats for women. The opposition is wary of getting further politically marginalised with the implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women, she said. Ministers Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Kapil Mishra also slammed the opposition, including the AAP, over the issue. Sirsa said that the Congress and AAP defeated the women's quota bill and committed a ''sin''. Mishra asserted that the dreams of the women will finally come true, and the opposition can not stall the Bill forever. Opposition members, including Sanjeev Jha, Kuldeep Kumar, Vishesh Ravi and Ajay Dutt, attacked the BJP, asking why no woman was ever appointed as head of the party or the RSS. They also alleged that the BJP brought the women's quota bill for votes in the Assembly polls in West Bengal and other states.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)